You don’t need to be a car guy to take care of your vehicle; you don’t even need to be all that handy. Washing your car is only the first step down this path. 3M produces the products that not only make washing your car easy, but also more advanced repairs such as scratch removal, mechanical maintenance and body repair. The democratization of car care is here.

Step One: Make It Shine

Washing your car may seem mundane and tiresome. Why take all that time and money to do it yourself when you can just take it somewhere? But if your looking to expand your car care knowledge, the old wash and wax is a stepping stone to more advanced procedures.

3M takes the hassle out of choosing the right products by bundling them together in one kit. Wash, wax, scrub, tire clean and detail are all available in one box, and in smaller sizes. So at the end of the day, you’ll have a clean car and not mountains of material left over. Plus, if you can competently wash your rig, you’re down the path of making your ride last.

Step Two: Bring Back the Luster

After washing, you may notice the years of abuse and neglect have taken their toll. Faded paint, a scratch here from a shopping cart, a scratch there from the garage door. Luckily, you don’t need to take it to a body shop to fix it.

3M’s scratch remover system, paint restore system and headlight restore kit all use simple to follow instructions, and all the proper materials to turn faded paint and lights back to near OEM condition. You’ll be surprised how easy and effective taking small scratches out can be, and how better you’ll feel about your car after. But what about those dents that won’t come out or the weird idle and poor gas mileage you’re getting?

Step Three: Boss Level

Bondo is the official material of the shade tree mechanic. Done right, you can effectively prep any material for painting well enough to get OEM quality back. After all, it’s what the professionals use. 3M also has a kit providing the proper sandpaper and instructions to prep dents yourself.

Although, this can be incredibly intimidating, as you are taking paint off, so I wouldn’t recommend taking your first try on something new, but definitely on a beater car or truck.

Also available is 3M’s professional quality fuel and air system cleaner system that combines all the sprays and solvents the pros use, in sizes and prices that work for consumers. Using all the materials together, you’ll see a smoother running, more efficient ride.

Step-by-Step Handiness

The best part of these systems is that they all lead to one another; you need no prior knowledge of cars, just a willingness to try. The systems are designed and written to make sense to anybody. This is just touching the surface of what you need to know to work on your car, but hopefully it will inspire you to tackle more challenging projects.